Emeli Sande gig at Edinburgh Castle ‘cancelled’

Emeli Sande’s scheduled performance at Edinburgh Castle on July 13 has been cancelled - but the reasons behind the postponement are unclear.

The Scottish singer-songwriter had also been due to perform in Cork, in Ireland three days earlier on July 10 but that concert has also been cancelled.

A spokesperson for Aiken Promotions confirmed to a Cork radio station that the gig had been cancelled, adding: “Further details have not yet been made available, however, the event has been listed as ‘cancelled’ on Ticketmaster’s website.”

Reports in the Netherlands, where Sande was due to perform on Friday at Rotterdam, suggested that the singer-songwriter had cancelled all dates on her European tour due to ‘exhaustion’.

And Belgian media also confirmed that the singer had pulled out of a scheduled appearance at the Rcok Werchter festival on July 8, adding that all dates had been called due to ‘fatigue’.

Hungarian media reporting on July 4 that Sande was scheduled to appear at the FINA Water World Championships in Budapest on July 14.

Ticketmaster UK confirmed that emails had been sent to fans with tickets for the Edinburgh Castle show - but no additional details were made available, and a message on the ticket firm’s website simply read: “Cancelled. We issue all refunds for cancelled events automatically.”

No details were available on Sande’s website, with the Rotterdam, Werchter, Cork, Edinburgh and Budapest shows still listed.

Her six scheduled performances in August - two in Switzerland; two at the V Festival in England; one in Bochum, Germany and one in Belfast - appear to be going ahead as planned.

Sande, 30, is due to embark on a ten-date tour of the UK and Ireland in October, starting in her hometown of Aberdeen, in support of her latest album, Long Live The Angels.

The singer took a six-month break from the public eye in 2013, saying at the time: “I’m happy to leave the limelight for a bit and lay low. I’m going to be in the studio working on my next album.”

She added: “I just want to make more music, as that’s my favourite thing.”

She made her first appearance at the Glastonbury Festival last month, but was criticised on social media for her performance. Still Game and Chewin’ the Fat star Ford Kiernan tweeted: “I’m gonna stick my neck oot, Emeli Sande is s***e,” while other described her singing as ‘awful’ and ‘off key’.

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Castle said: “We are very sorry to announce that due to logistical problems beyond the artist’s control, Emeli Sande has been forced to cancel her 13th July concert at Edinburgh Castle.

“Full refunds will be automatically issued to ticket holders. We apologise for any inconvenience or disappointment caused.”